diff --git a/src/core/iomgr/pollset_multipoller_with_epoll.c b/src/core/iomgr/pollset_multipoller_with_epoll.c
index dae33e42f24..2c113048e21 100644
--- a/src/core/iomgr/pollset_multipoller_with_epoll.c
+++ b/src/core/iomgr/pollset_multipoller_with_epoll.c
@@ -90,6 +90,7 @@ static void remove_epoll_fd_from_global_list(int epoll_fd) {
 
 void grpc_remove_fd_from_all_epoll_sets(int fd) {
   int err;
+  gpr_once_init(&init_epoll_fd_list_mu, init_mu);
   gpr_mu_lock(&epoll_fd_list_mu);
   if (epoll_fd_global_list.count == 0) {
     return;